For the past three days I've been exploring Sydney and definitely fell head over heels in love with the city. The three-day Welcome Camp has been packed with sightseeing, walking, shopping, eating and a lot more walking. So basically exhaustion couldn't have been avoided even though it's been fun.
The STS Welcome Camp is arranged for STS exchange students in order to provide a smooth start to the exchange year. The point is to start adapting to the culture and also meet other exchange students from all over the world. We stayed at Sydney Central YHA, "we" being me and 33 other exchange students, all from STS. There were students from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and even the USA.
Tuesday 10/07/2018
After about a 24 hour journey I arrived safely in Sydney at 6.30 in the morning. As it was a long old way to the other side of the world, I arrived on Tuesday instead of Monday due to the time difference and the fact that I flew East. On top of the exhaustion and confusion caused by the longest flight journey I've probably ever done I only slept for maybe five or six hours in total. You can only imagine how fun it was having to stay awake until eight in the evening while walking the streets of Sydney. But guess what, I survived! (I know, I was surprised too) It was probably because of all the adrenaline and excitement of an exchange student exploring such a cool and lovely city.
On Tuesday afternoon we walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens and along the sea side to the Opera House. It was all really surreal to think that I had really made it to the other side of the world -where I had always wanted to go.
Wednesday 11/7/2018
On Wednesday morning we took a ferry to Manly, a beach-side suburb in northern Sydney. We spent the afternoon there strolling the streets and enjoying the beach.
I really liked visiting Manly as it was more of a suburbish area instead of all the skyscrapers and streets flowing with people. Everything was more relaxed with the cute houses and the gorgeous beach compared to the hectic and busy city centre. After the ferry ride back, we walked to Darling Harbour where we then had some free time. We checked out the shops in Westfield, walked around the harbour area and had dinner together.
Thursday 12/7/2018
Thursday was the last day of the welcome camp before flying to the Gold Coast and meeting my host family. In the morning we left the hostel and walked to Darling Harbour where we got to visit the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium and Wild Life park. I saw lots of fish, rays, sharks, Wuru the Dugong and also penguins. In Wild Life they have lots of different animals -everything from the poisonous snakes to sleepy and fluffy koala bears.
On our free time after the aquarium and wild life park we made our way to Westfield because we wanted to go up the Sydney Tower Eye and admire Sydney from above. The Tower Eye is 305 meters tall being the highest building in Sydney. At 5pm we met everyone and walked back to the hostel, had dinner and packed some bits and bobs for the upcoming flight to Gold Coast.
You can see more pictures from the Camp here.
I really want to come back to Sydney because three days definitely weren't enough for the amount of things I wanted to see and do. So, Sydney I hope I'll see you soon.
Sounds like you have had a wonderful start of your exchange year! Sydney is also in top 2 of my favourite cities.😊